Oksana Romanyuk, director of the Institute of Mass Information, expressed serious concern about the systemic pressure on Ukrainian journalists and called on the authorities to act after receiving reports of threats against journalist Yury Nikolov and surveillance of the Bihus.Info team.
In her address on Facebook on January 16, she stated: "If by today evening there is no strong reaction of the authorities to the systemic pressure on journalists, it will be very, very bad for Ukraine as a democratic state."
Romanyuk defined targeted media hunting, surveillance and hidden video recording as unacceptable in a democratic country. She compared the situation with the times of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, stressing that in 2024 such pressure on journalists is absolutely unacceptable.
It should be noted that on January 15, attempts by unknown persons to break into the apartment of journalist Yuriy Nikolov, the author of an important investigation into inflated prices for products for the Ministry of Defense, became known. The next day, a video was posted on the Internet in which the employees of the Bihus.Info project, whose investigation created problems for the authorities, allegedly use drugs.
People's deputy Geo Leros commented on the hearing of BIHUS Info journalists.
"The personal life of journalists is their right, but the law enforcement agencies, enraged by impunity, went far beyond their powers, turning into pocket cerberus of the president's office, I felt it well on my skin. At least a hundred books may have been published about the "great leader of the civilized world" Zelensky, but in reality it is just Putin on a mini-scale. The methods are the same, but the result - at best, it will run to Rostov," Leros noted.
The current situation:
The Security Service of Ukraine is investigating the circumstances of illegal wiretapping and video recording of representatives of the "Bihus.Info" project, the press service of the SBU.
According to this fact, criminal proceedings have been opened according to Art. 359 of the Criminal Code (illegal acquisition, sale or use of special technical means of obtaining information).
